Native Alaskans and environmental groups are decrying President Donald Trump’s executive order to change the traditional name of North America’s tallest mountain.
The mountain, Denali, is located in south-central Alaska in the Denali National Park and Preserve and stands at more than 20,000 feet. Its name in Koyukon Athabascans translates to “the great one” or “the high one.”
But Denali’s name seemingly means little to Trump.
During his inauguration address on Jan. 20 the newly elected president said he would ditch Denali and reinstate a previously used name, Mount McKinley, in honor of 25th U.S. President William McKinley.
Trump has made no secret about his idolization of McKinley.
During his inauguration address he touted McKinley as a “natural business man” due to his use of tariffs in order to protect American manufacturing interests.
“President McKinley made our country very rich through tariffs and through talent,” Trump said. “We will restore the name of a great president, William McKinley, to Mount McKinley, where it should be and where it belongs.
The executive order, which was issued during Trump’s first day in office, stipulates that the name change take place within 30 days. It also states the Denali national park area will keep its name.
But Trump’s push to rename Denali isn’t sitting well with Native Alaskans.
Josephine Jones, a member of the Kenaitze Indian Tribe with Denaʼina Athabascan ancestry, told APTN News she wasn’t on board with the change.
“I think it’s just so messed up and obviously I’m fully against it,” she said. “I really think that the whole change was not done for the Dena’ina at all. I don’t even think the president even knows who we are or cares.”
The Alaska Native Heritage Centre said it would continue to advocate to preserve traditional names like Denali.
“Keeping this name honors that connection and recognizes the enduring contributions of Alaska Native peoples,” president and CEO Emily Edenshaw said in a statement.
Environmental groups are also speaking out against the change.
“We think it’s very rude and disrespectful for President Trump to pick this fight and throw this in the face of Indigenous people in Alaska,” said Athan Manuel, director of the Sierra Club’s Land Protections program.
“We hope in four years, the American public come back to their senses, and we have a different president who will be the opposite of President Trump.”
Denali’s namesake has been a source of contention for well over a century
In 1896, a prospector dubbed the peak Mount McKinley in honor of McKinley’s recent republican nomination for president – an act that ignored the mountain’s traditional name which had been used by Native Alaskans for thousands of years.
Though McKinley was from Ohio and never set foot in Alaska, the name stuck.
In 1975, Alaska Native organizations and state officials began efforts to change the name back to Denali – though lawmakers from McKinley’s home state of Ohio fiercely opposed the change.
In 2015, the Obama-administration officially restored Denali’s name, a move that was widely celebrated by Native and non-Native Alaskans alike.
The Tanana Chiefs Conference, an Alaska Native non-profit corporation which helped change Mount McKinley to Denali, said it would work with the National Congress of American Indians and Tribal communities towards having the name reinstated.
Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who’s home state is Alaska, also weighed in on the issue.
“For years, I advocated in Congress to restore the rightful name for this majestic mountain to respect Alaska’s first people who have lived on these lands for thousands of years. This is an issue that should not be relitigated,” she said.
On Jan. 27, the Alaska House of Representatives voted in favor 28-10 of House Joint Resolution 4, which formally calls on Trump and the federal government to reinstate Denali.
While a reconsideration vote is likely to take place next week, the resolution is expected to advance to the Senate and is likely to be approved.
Once approved, the resolution will go before Trump and other high-ranking congressional offices. However, the resolution is not binding.
Meanwhile, legislation is currently being drafted to officially change Denali’s name on federal maps and other administrational paperwork. The executive order also includes renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the Gulf of America, which is being hotly contested by Mexican President Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum.
Google said in a statement earlier this week it plans to change the name of both places on its maps platform in the U.S. once the U.S. Geographic Names System officially reflects the name changes.
Sheinbaum presented a letter addressed to Google on Thursday arguing the U.S. doesn’t have the authority to change the gulf’s name.
